Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Padre Pio's Christmas Meditation

I have been enjoying Jeanette Salerno's newest book, Padre Pio's Christmases, a delightful collection of factual encounters with Padre Pio and the Baby Jesus. The book also includes my translation of St. Pio's Christmas Meditation, which appears in the Italian edition of Volume IV of the letters of the saint. Jeanette and I thought it would be appropriate to blog this beautiful rendition of the Christmas story, so that the lessons Padre Pio delineates can bring joy, comfort and light to as many people as possible.

Far into the night, at the coldest time of the year, in a chilly
grotto, more suitable for a flock of beasts than for humans, the promised Messiah –
Jesus – the savior of mankind, comes into the world in the fullness of time. There
are none who clamor around him: only an ox and an ass lending their warmth to the newborn
infant; with a humble woman, and a poor and tired man, in adoration beside him. Nothing can be heard except the sobs and whimpers of the infant God. And by
means of his crying and weeping he offers to the Divine justice the first ransom for our
redemption. He had been expected for forty centuries; with longing sighs the ancient
Fathers had implored his arrival. The sacred scriptures clearly prophesy the time and the
place of his birth, and yet the world is silent and no one seems aware of the great event.
Only some shepherds, who had been busy watching over their sheep in the meadows, come to
visit him. Heavenly visitors had alerted them to the wondrous event, inviting them to
approach his cave.

So plentiful, O Christians, are the lessons that shine forth from the grotto of
Bethlehem! Oh how our hearts should be on fire with love for the one who with such
tenderness was made flesh for our sakes! Oh how we should burn with desire to lead the
whole world to this lowly cave, refuge of the King of kings, greater than any worldly
palace, because it is the throne and dwelling place of God! Let us ask this Divine child
to clothe us with humility, because only by means of this virtue can we taste the fullness
of this mystery of Divine tenderness. Glittering were the palaces of the proud Hebrews. Yet, the light of the world
did not appear in one of them. Ostentatious with worldly grandeur, swimming in gold and in
delights, were the great ones of the Hebrew nation; filled with vain knowledge and pride
were the priests of the sanctuary. In opposition to the true meaning of Divine revelation,
they awaited an officious savoir, who would come into the world with human renown and
power. But God, always ready to confound the wisdom of the world, shatters their
plans. Contrary to the expectations of those lacking in Divine wisdom, he appears among us
in the greatest abjection, renouncing even birth in St. Joseph’s humble home, denying
himself a modest abode among relatives and friends in a city of Palestine. Refused lodging
among men, he seeks refuge and comfort among mere animals, choosing their habitation as
the place of his birth, allowing their breath to give warmth to his tender body. He
permits simple and rustic shepherds to be the first to pay their respects to him, after he
himself informed them, by means of his angels, of the wonderful mystery. Oh wisdom and power of God, we are constrained to exclaim – enraptured
along with your Apostle – how incomprehensible are your judgments and unsearchable
your ways! Poverty, humility, abjection, contempt, all surround the Word made flesh. But
we, out of the darkness that envelops the incarnate Word, understand one thing, hear one
voice, perceive one sublime truth: you have done everything out of love, you invite us to
nothing else but love, speak of nothing except love, give us naught except proofs of love.

The heavenly babe suffers and cries in the crib so that for us suffering would
be sweet, meritorious and accepted. He deprives himself of everything, in order that we
may learn from him the renunciation of worldly goods and comforts. He is satisfied with
humble and poor adorers, to encourage us to love poverty, and to prefer the company of the
little and simple rather than the great ones of the world. This celestial child, all meekness and sweetness, wishes to impress in our
hearts by his example these sublime virtues, so that from a world that is torn and
devastated an era of peace and love may spring forth. Even from the moment of his birth he
reveals to us our mission, which is to scorn that which the world loves and seeks. Oh let us prostrate ourselves before the manger, and along with the great St.
Jerome, who was enflamed with the love of the infant Jesus, let us offer him all our
hearts without reserve. Let us promise to follow the precepts which come to us from the
grotto of Bethlehem, which teach us that everything here below is vanity of vanities,
nothing but vanity.

Padre Pio was very enthusiastic about the birth of Jesus so much so that the Christmas midnight Mass was always celebrated by him when in point of fact it was the right of the Franciscan community guardian to celebrate it. All Franciscans at San Giovanni convent accepted to have him celebrate that Mass.